Computer ◆ Conservation ◆ Society

On this web page are the references which, were Resurrection an academic journal, would follow Prof. Simon Lavington’s Resurrection 77 article on the hooter of the Manchester University/Ferranti Mark I and its rôle in generating ‘music’ in the hands of Christopher Strachey and others.

  1. Preliminary discussion of the logical design of an electronic computing instrument. A W Burks, H H Goldstine & J von Neumann. Report prepared in accordance with a contract between the US Army and the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. 28th June 1946. See: grch.com.ar/docs/p1/Apuntes/eng/Logical Design of an Electronic Computing Instrument.pdf.
  2. G C Tootill’s notebook is kept at the National Archive for the History of Computing, Manchester. Catalogue number NAHC/MUC/2/C3.
  3. See The D B G Edwards Collection in the Library of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, London. Edwards’ Laboratory notebook and circuit diagrams are in a dark green folder.
  4. Early listings of the instruction set for the Manchester Mark I are to be found at the following catalogue references in libraries and archives at Manchester University and at the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists in London:
    • 8th November 1948: NAHC/SHL2016/MA2a.
    • 5th December 1948: WCIT dark green folder (see (3) above).
    • June 1949: NAHC/EDS/C7 (June 1949 Cambridge Conference, Kilburn’s paper).
    • September 1949: Joule Library, TH3597. (D B G Edwards’ thesis).
    • 28th February 1950: NAHC/MUC/2/C4.
    • October 1950: Joule Library, TH1519. (M A Bates’ thesis).
    • Turing’s Pilot Machine description: NAHC/MUC/2/C5.
  5. Log books of the Ferranti Mark I at Manchester: NAHC/MUC/2/C6.
  6. Faster than Thought, edited by B V Bowden. Pitman, London, 1953. See pages 75 - 76 in a chapter written by Bowden.
  7. An audio recording of Frank Cooper’s 1951 disc, together with Frank Cooper’s 1994 introductory comments, is held by the British Library’s Sound and Vision archive. See catalogue-numbers O493W/C1 (the talk) and O493W/C2 (the music).